Month: January 2015

Eldest son is absolutely horse crazed! I can’t claim to be far from it, myself. But, he is a born cowboy and he loves to ride.

So, how could I not craft up a little something for Christmas that was right up his alley? A bunch of the “Barn Moms” and I got together and made some absolutely adorable pillows decorated with horses on them. Some were fanciful, others looked like a particular horse, we even had a fantastical unicorn in the mix! Lots of the “barn kids” received pillows among their Christmas gifts and they seemed to be a huge hit with everyone.

My kiddo received a pillow that represents “his” horse Doc. Doc is a quarter horse who hates baths and brushing and just wants to throw on a saddle and go–much like my son! He is a true cowboy horse and he has claimed my son as one of his very favorite people.

(L to R) Pillows representing Hans the Hanoverian (in show braids), Baron the Shire, and Doc the Quarter Horse.

On the right are three of the pillows that I made. I wish I had gotten more photos of them before I delivered them. On the left is one that went to one of DS18s riding instructors. It looks like Hans, the big, goofy warmblooded Hanoverian that lives at the stables. His instructor often rides him in ACTHA rides and Equestrian events, hence the braids instead of a mane. I hoped that the paisley fabric would emphasize his fancy “show” prowess.

The middle pillow represents Baron, the Shire and our only draft horse at the stables. Unfortunately, not long after I made this pillow, he suffered a strangulation lymphoma and didn’t make it. I am hoping that DS18s other instructor enjoyed receiving this remembrance of this big, gorgeous boy. As much as he was my favorite horse to ride and to love on, he clearly loved her (and she loved him) more than anyone else. It’s sad to lose a friend, but I will always remember that drafty personality and big, pretty walk of his. Sigh.

On the far right is Doc, the Quarter Horse. His mane is made of looped twine that is “blowing” backward because he is running across the fields. This is my son’s favorite horse and if he had been available to lease, we would have done it. They make such a good team together, even reading each other’s minds. Doc is kind of a no muss, no fuss kind of horse who hates brushing, braiding, baths, or pretty much anything other than riding, meal times, and peppermints. It’s an ideal match for my son, who pretty much feels the same way about baths and anything too fussy related to hygiene. LOL!

Fortunately, all of the pillows seem to be well received and enjoyed! My kiddo sleeps with his on the bed at night. He is afraid it will get messed up if it falls on the floor.

The painting bug hit pretty hard this Christmas. After I took a class in November, I realized that this opened the door to making even more creative gifts for family and friends. This painting is of a Painted Bunting. We see these beautiful, colorful birds each year when we go down to Jekyll Island for vacation or to visit. They are a family favorite.

I looked at scores of photographs online of the Painted Bunting, so I could try to be reasonably accurate in the color placement, etc. All in all, it was a pretty fun project to complete. Not a masterpiece and certainly not a photograph, but a bright, happy, obvious bird painting. Works for me.

Painted Bunting

This particular painting was inspired by a painting of an Eastern Bluebird. Since the shapes were largely similar, I kind of kept the outline the same and then changed the coloration to be that of the more showy Painted Bunting. Birdie then became part of Christmas for my youngest son, an avid bird watcher.

He really seemed to enjoy it and asked for another to go with it. He is just determining which bird he would like next. Love that! I think I would like to try the mottled Bluebird, myself.

That block that was ready to be stitched down, ultimately became one of four dresden plate decorative pillows that were given as Christmas gifts this year. I couldn’t share them before now, because we hadn’t had our final family celebration yet. Despite a false start or two where the block didn’t want to stay put while I was stitching it and bunched up badly, I eventually used fusible adhesive to hold the center of the blocks in place while I hand appliqued the edges down. It worked like a charm!

I must say that I was fairly intimidated by the idea of hand applique with a hidden stitch. I had done hand blanket stitch applique before, but after my friend, Beverly, showed me the proper stitch, it just felt like something that I would be willing to try.

I am proud to say that all of the pillows turned out beautifully and were happily received!

One of the familiar aftermaths of all of the Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations for our family is pulling at least one (often more than one) stripped turkey carcass out of the freezer to start the process of making good, homemade bone broth. Nutritious and tasty, this broth is canned and used like chicken stock for a good portion of the year (we do make chicken stock also, but a good turkey carcass makes so much at one time!).

It’s a great thing to do on a dreary, cold Winter’s day. I can work on other projects while the broth simmers away, filling the house with warm, inviting scents.

In November, I ventured out with friends to try a new craft type: painting. There is a shop in Griffin, Georgia called, Stache Studio, that let’s customers come in and paint a picture on canvas with acrylic paints. They also do ceramics and some other things, but I met two friends to try and paint a horse. The instructor was fantastic, and we had a wonderful time.

Of course, I know these ladies from the Calvin Center Equestrian Program, so we had loads to talk about and we laughed and laughed. The best thing about my barn friends is that we all enjoy each other so very, very much when we are able to match up schedules and get together for a bit!

So, here is the final product! I am impressed that they are all easily identifiable as horses, yet so different and unique to each of us. I am on the far left. I decided that my horse is a complete fantasy. Her name is Princess Buttercup. She is a haflinger. She stands 14 hands high, is strong as an ox, and, of course, loves me to pieces. A girl can dream, right?

Okay, it’s just a flimsy (unfinished quilt top) but I did manage to squeeze in time to piece it all together in the hectic Christmas season. I have always said that I would make a Christmas quilt one of these days, but haven’t ever actually done it.

I fell in love with these Christmas fabrics at one of our local-ish quilt stores and picked up 8 fat quarters and a bit of extra for a creamy background and red inner border. It’s a great snuggle size and not so overtly holiday that it can’t be used a bit over the winter also. Gotta love that!

In the photo, it is just laying across a queen sized bed and it covers the top from the pillows to the end of the bed. I imagine it wouldn’t be too terrible to expand it into a bed sized quilt, just adding to this central star, border, and brick edging (it doesn’t show up terribly well in the photos).

A quilting friend (Hi, Carol!) graciously offered to let me use her long arm to finish it and it just may prove to be the perfect size project to learn on. Now, to just have time to get around to it!

Have you ever long armed a quilt before? Please share your tips below!

While I did work on a Christmas quilt for myself this year, I got it pieced, but not quilted. My friend, Beverly (who doesn’t have a blog) made this adorable Santa wall hanging for a quilt rack in her breakfast nook. She started with a cute little panel from our local-ish quilt store (nothing is really very local to us) and finished it out beautifully! I just love him!

I am kicking myself for not getting one of these panels for myself. Maybe I can find something similar for next year. I have a real soft spot for the chubby guy in the red velvet at Christmas.

Look at that sweet face!

I know that my Christmas reveals are really late this year and I apologize. We have had some medical excitement in the extended family and we only recently held the last of our family celebrations this past week. It’s been a crazy start to the year, but so worth it that everyone is healing and enjoying being together.